HOPE
by ImaginationForger14
Summary: Percy Jackson was conceived with a purpose: to be the hope of Olympus, to be a weapon of war. Armed with powers beyond anyone's imagination, he will take on the worst the world has in store for him. Together with his best friend, he will best the challenges of life as he tries to find himself amidst everything else.


**Chapter 1:Project H.O.P.E.**

 _ **November 23,1992 2:30pm**_

 _ **Athena's Palace, Olympus**_

It was a regular day in Olympus, and Athena was doing her favorite pastime, spying on her longtime rival, Poseidon. She did this using several cameras and microphones attached to specially bred owls. The feed from the cameras and microphones was constantly being transmitted to a special room in Athena's palace. This room, which the goddess dubbed her 'Revenge Room', was filled with pictures of Poseidon, which were attached to several targets and were all very much ripped. On one wall there was a tapestry, which Athena herself wove, that depicted Poseidon, the god of the sea, drowning as horses and other equine creatures pummeled him, with Athena standing on a platform high above, looking down with a triumphant smirk. Taking up an entire wall of the room were the monitors that showed feed from Athena's spy-owl cameras as they constantly flew around the world looking for the lord of the sea.

It was early in the afternoon and Athena was still trying to find some sign of Poseidon, when, just as the goddess of wisdom was about to go do something else, an owl found him in New York. Much to the surprise of Athena, he was on a date with a mortal woman. The woman had long brown hair and blue eyes that changed in the light. When Athena noticed Poseidon's expression, she knew that nothing short of killing the mortal would stop Poseidon from siring a child with her, as such, Athena started thinking of ways to deal with the situation that has manifested itself. While she did consider just killing the mortal woman, Athena thought of a much less wasteful plan. Turn the child that would come out of this relationship into a weapon, a soldier that would serve Olympus and make sure that the prophecy goes in favor of the Olympians. The goddess of battle strategy smiled a sinister smile; she was going to enjoy this.

Athena contemplated many ways of turning a child into an effective weapon. A thought that popped into her mind was to make the child another Achilles, to dip it into the River Styx, but she dismissed the thought as that plan could kill the child. She contemplated turning it into a cyborg, but again she dismissed it, seeing as there would be need to constantly replace parts and the process could, once again, kill the child. She was contemplating infusing the child with great amounts of magical energy, when it hit her. The plan was so simple and effective that Athena nearly hit herself, just give the child the blessing of multiple gods and goddesses to give it more powers and make it more durable. Not only was it effective, but also it had nearly no chance of killing the child. Fueled by determination, she set off to get the gods and goddesses she knew would be perfect for achieving her goal.

* * *

 _ **A little while later  
**_ _ **Throne room**_

Hera was in her throne, which was engraved with pictures of peacocks with cushions filled with peacock feathers, thinking about how Poseidon was probably having another affair, if her senses were anything to go by. When Athena called her attention. She was surprised, seeing as the two of them didn't talk much and when they did it was usually something really important, and her surprise doubled when she noticed Athena walk in with Aphrodite as well.

"Okay, so I believe you both know of Barnacle Beard's affair, right?" Athena asked them. After receiving nods from the both of them, she continued, "I'm sure we can all agree that a child will be born from Poseidon's latest escapade, so I thought of a plan that would benefit from this development," Athena then, Apollo, Artemis, Hecate, Poseidon, Hestia and Hades all came in. Athena smiled. "Good, now that everyone is here, I can explain my plan." And so she did.

The reactions to the plan were varied, but most certainly not unexpected. Poseidon was very suspicious of Athena's plan, believing her to have ulterior motives, and joining him were Hestia and Hera. Hades was being grumpy, believing it unfair that a child of Poseidon would get this kind of treatment, but he understood the benefits and necessity of such actions. Artemis was all for it, saying that if the child was a male then at least he would become useful and that if it was a girl then it would only prove the superiority of females. Apollo and Aphrodite agreed to it without really understanding anything. Hecate silently agreed to the plan and began contemplating ways to improve it.

It took time, but Hestia, Hera and even Poseidon were convinced to go along with the plan, though Poseidon only agreed when it became clear that the alternative would be the death of his lover.

Everyone began discussing the finer points of the plan when Hecate brought up a very relevant point. "Hold on a minute, what's the point of granting a child such abilities when it won't know how to use them, much less control them?"

Athena realized the goddess of magic had a point, and began devising measures to ensure that the child wouldn't accidentally go nuclear. However, Hestia came up with an idea that grabbed everyone's attention. "Why don't we train it ourselves? Show it how to use the abilities we grant it to the greatest extent, guide it to reach it's full potential and master powers that most people can only dream of."

"Yes, good idea Hestia. Though we can't exactly just constantly spend time training a child, we have duties to attend to," Athena replied, already thinking of a workaround. She began muttering to herself. "Train it…full potential…can only dream of…dream of…dream…Aha! I know, we can visit the child in it's dreams and train it that way, most of us don't usually have much to do at night anyways." Everyone nodded and agreed to this course of action. "Now, anything else we should be concerned with?"

"Ah yes, what about it's demigod scent? Surely with that much power, it would become a target for monsters everywhere," said Hecate.

"Not to worry, just leave that to me," Athena replied, a slight smile gracing her lips for a moment, but nobody caught it. "Anything else?"

"Well, I was thinking that until it gets a complete handle on it's powers, we could seal away the child's abilities," Hecate stated. Athena nodded, taking note of that suggestion. She then looked around the group of immortals with a questioning look in her eyes. When her eyes landed on Apollo his eyes sparkled, and Athena immediately sighed.

"What is it Apollo?"

"Well, I was thinking that this little project of ours needs a name, and I have the perfect one! Let's call it project 'Awesomeness', I know, I know it's great right?"

"No it is not great Apollo, but you do have a slight point with needing a name, I suppose. Anyone have any actual names that they would like to propose?"

Hestia stepped forward, a slight smile on her face. "I have a name, Project: Hero of Olympus and People Everywhere, or Project: H.O.P.E. for short."

"I like it, Project: H.O.P.E. it is. Alright, I think that just about wraps up the first official Project: H.O.P.E. meeting." After swearing oaths to keep everything that they talked about a secret, everyone dispersed with promises to meet-up at the Jackson residence the next day.

* * *

 _ **The next morning  
**_ _ **Sally Jackson's apartment**_

To say that Poseidon was nervous would be the understatement of the century. He wasn't sure if Sally would even approve of this, thinking that while having a child is great and all, having a child that you know could very well die at the age of 16 was an entirely different matter in and of itself. He was brought out of his thoughts as Sally walked into the room.

"Poseidon? Who are these people?" She asked in a curious voice. Poseidon introduced everyone with a nervousness that Sally hadn't seen in him before.

"Ms. Jackson, let's just cut straight to the chase, shall we? Poseidon has made his stand with you quite clear, and he plans to, shall we say, escalate your relationship much further. Foreseeing this, I came up with a plan that could very save all of Olympus. In order for this to make complete sense, allow me to share with you some bits of information. First, World War II was a battle between the children of the Big Three. After the war ended, they decided that their children were too powerful, and swore to never sire another child again. However, that wasn't the only cause of their pact. Another, much more pressing matter forced their hand, a prophecy was issued by the Oracle of Delphi. Apollo, if you will?"

Apollo's eyes suddenly shone green as a green mist escaped from his mouth. The temperature seemed to drop by 5 degrees and a chill went up everyone's spine. A raspy old voice that seemed to be more ancient than any of the gods in the room spoke from everywhere and nowhere at the same:

 _"A half-blood of the eldest gods_

 _Shall reach sixteen against all odds_

 _And see the world in endless sleep_

 _The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap_

 _A single choice shall end his days_

 _Olympus to preserve or raze"_

As soon as it started, the voice ceased, the mist cleared and Apollo's eyes returned to normal. Sally Jackson, being the strong woman that she was, shook off the shock she felt to digest the words she just heard. Her eyes widened in realization as she figured out the implications of the prophecy. "I see..." she said. "What exactly is this plan of yours?"

"It's simple really, to give the blessings of all of us here to whatever child your relationship with Poseidon produces, train it to use those powers as well as to be loyal to Olympus and let the prophecy take it's course."

"There's just one small problem with that plan," said Sally.

"Oh, and what might that be?" asked Athena

"I'm infertile."

A silence descended upon the room for a moment before, by some unknown force, all the divine beings in the room recited at once, "Huh?"

"You heard me, I can't have children."

"Well then, there's nothing to worry about then," said Hera.

"Now hold on, can't you three do anything about this? We already came up with a plan, why not bring it to fruition?" Athena asked, pointing at Artemis, Hera and Aphrodite. The three goddesses looked at each other and nodded.

"We'll do it, better get this whole prophecy thing out of the way quickly," said Aphrodite.

Artemis nodded, albeit a bit hesitantly. Artemis always wanted to have a child, but she never could because she couldn't even think about being in a relationship with a man, so of course she was a bit reluctant to help another woman bear a child when she herself couldn't. Hera noticed this, and she felt some sympathy for what she herself would sometimes dub as 'a product of her husband's infidelity'. While pride would never allow her to admit it out loud, Hera didn't hate Artemis, she just hated what it was that Artemis' existence would keep reminding her, that her husband was unfaithful. Truth be told, Hera quite liked Artemis, for she was a strong, independent woman who wouldn't back down from anything and did things the way she wanted to do them. An idea struck the goddess of marriage, an idea that might start the process of building something of a positive relationship between herself and Artemis.

While everyone was busy doing their own thing, Hera beckoned Artemis and Aphrodite over to a corner. She looked at Artemis, but spoke to the both of them, "I have a proposition. Artemis, you want to have a child, right?" Artemis nodded, a bit confused at the choice of topic. Aphrodite saw where this was going and smirked. "Well, Aphrodite and I could help you with that." Artemis' eyes widened at that, but then she became very wary, not letting herself trust the original evil step-mother and the constantly scheming goddess of love.

"What's the catch?" the goddess of the moon asked.

Hera wanted to say that there would be no catch, but not only did she worry about how that would affect her image, she also knew that Aphrodite would never pass up the chance to mess with Artemis. "Well, I personally don't think you are capable of being a mother, so to ensure that your child would get a chance to be with a _proper_ mother, your child will be a demigod, not an immortal," Hera said, putting up a rather convincing act. Her voice was snide and taunting, a slight smirk graced her lips and her eyes were set in a condescending glare.

Aphrodite giggled, a mischievous smile firmly planted on her face. "Oh, that's perfect for my little...plan. I want the freedom to mess around with your child's love life, Artemis dear."

Artemis gulped, not sure if it was worth it. Hera noticed her hesitation. "Well, it seems that you really don't want to have the chance at being a mother after all," she said, turning towards the opposite side of the room, as if to walk away.

The voice of Artemis stopped her. "Wait! I-I'll do it," she said, sounding a bit defeated.

Hera smiled at her. "I knew you would come around."

"Alright, let's get a move on people!" Athena shouted from across the room, gesturing everyone over to her and the three goddesses joined everyone else. "Okay, so you three do whatever it is that you have to do," Athena said, pointing to the trio. They nodded and cleared up a section of the room for their use.

They had Sally stand in a spot while they, along with Poseidon, stood in a circle around her while holding each other's hands. They all closed their eyes and a soft, slowly pulsing white light stated to surround them. A bright, almost tangible aura of green manifested itself around Poseidon while a very dim aura of white manifested around Sally. The pulsing light became brighter and brighter, its pulsing becoming faster and faster before the pulsing just stopped and a bright ball of light was all that could be seen. Ever so slowly, a tendril of Poseidon's energy approached Sally, before it suddenly struck her in the womb. Sally gasped as she felt something inside of her change. The air was thick with so much magic that even Apollo, who never bothered to hone any of his senses before, could practically see the magic flowing through the room. Nobody but Hecate understood why such powerful magic was at play, all of them believing that such a process would be simple. Tantalizingly slowly, the light died down and one could see that the immortals were all standing, albeit a bit shakily, while Sally was on the floor, unconscious.

"Okay, what just happened? What was with the immensely powerful magic?" asked Hades.

"I can explain that," said Hecate. "Life is not so simple as to be able to be made with a snap of one's fingers, especially not in this era where true believers of magic are so scarce, even more so when one tries to create a demigod. Truthfully, Artemis, Aphrodite and Hera could have simply made Sally fertile with but a thought, then allowing Poseidon to take care of the rest. Instead, they chose to set-up the building blocks for the child, to start the process of the child's development by means of their magic. All of this would allow the child a much more magically sound body, one that could not only handle the power of so many blessings, but could also adapt to them, increasing the child's abilities threefold."

"I see," said Hades as he stood up. "If there is nothing else to be done then I will be getting back to the Underworld, I still have much work to be done." With that, Hades stepped into a shadow and disappeared. The other gods started leaving as well, leaving Poseidon with a sleeping Sally Jackson. Aphrodite, Artemis and Hera left last together, though Poseidon paid them no heed.

The god of the sea picked his sleeping lover and carried her to her bedroom. He laid her on the bed and smiled a little as he saw that sally was drooling. "Sleep well, my love," he whispered before dissolving into a sea breeze.

As soon as he left, an ancient presence entered the room. _"This will be interesting..."_ a bodiless feminine voice whispered. As quickly as it entered, the presence left, but not before leaving a small, black velvet box in one of Sally's storage boxes. She wouldn't find the small box until more than a decade later.

* * *

Artemis, accompanied by the goddess of love as well as the goddess of marriage, appeared in her silver palace on Olympus. She took a deep breath before looking at her companions and nodding. They performed a ritual not unlike the one performed on Sally, except this one took much longer and it almost completely drained the three goddesses. However, despite her unusual exhaustion, Artemis felt more alive then ever, though perhaps this was because of the new life that she could sense was slowly growing inside of her. A few tears trailed down her cheeks as a feeling of immense happiness and relief flooded her system. In a very emotional moment for the otherwise usually impassive goddess, Artemis hugged Aphrodite and Hera while constantly thanking them. After she finally calmed down, Artemis let go of the two stunned goddesses, who quickly left after that. Artemis started rubbing her stomach, all the while smiling like her wish came true, which it actually did.

So consumed she was in her happiness, Artemis didn't notice the other divine presence in the room. This was the same presence that visited Sally Jackson just moments ago. Once again, the feminine voice whispered, _"This will be very interesting..."_ The presence also left a small black velvet box in the premises before it left. This, too, would not be found until more than a decade later.

 _ **END OF CHAPTER 1**_


End file.
